The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the City Government of San Jose Del Monte have reached an agreement on the new location for the San Jose Del Monte Station of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) Project.
During a project briefing with the Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC), led by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) – Region III, DOTr MRT-7 Project Manager Engr. Suncris Cadiz confirmed that while the station will still be located along Quirino Highway, its exact position has been adjusted.
Initially planned near the Muzon-Tungkong Mangga Road intersection, the station will now be relocated closer to the boundary of San Jose Del Monte and North Caloocan.
The San Jose Del Monte Station is part of the 14 stations along the 28.8-kilometer MRT-7 route, which will connect to the soon-to-be-opened LRT-MRT Unified Grand Central Terminal at EDSA-North Avenue, Quezon City.
After the completion of the San Jose Del Monte Station, the construction of the Tala Station in North Caloocan is scheduled to begin. In the meantime, 12 other stations are already under construction, with partial operations expected to start by late 2025 or early 2026.
With the station’s final location now confirmed, Cadiz further stated that the construction of an Intermodal Transportation Terminal (ITT) will follow. The ITT will be situated next to the train station and will accommodate up to 60 buses at a time. A six-lane access road is also planned to connect MRT-7 to the Bocaue and Balagtas interchanges of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).
According to records from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, there are proposals to extend MRT-7 beyond San Jose Del Monte, potentially reaching the municipalities of Norzagaray, Santa Maria, and Balagtas, and eventually extending to the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) in Bulakan, Bulacan.
The P77-billion MRT-7 project was developed under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme, a form of Public-Private Partnership (PPP). San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is the concessionaire for the project, responsible for financing, designing, constructing, and operating the railway. After the concession period, ownership and control of the infrastructure will be transferred to the government.
Approved by the NEDA Board in 2008 during the Arroyo administration, actual construction of MRT-7 began in late 2016. (PIA Region 3-Bulacan)
